My friend Steve Gayle (a San Francisco public defender) sent me this story during the Marathon and I read it on the air. I post it here with his permission.
Hi David-
I’m spending this rainy Saturday at home working on my current trial and listening to the KPFA marathon (and I thank you for that !). I remembered a great story that a friend of mine told me, and I thought I’d pass it on…
She went to a show at Cal Expo, and after the show was over she encountered a small group of skinheads in the parking lot. The skinheads were standing in a knot, seemingly hell bent on provoking the deadheads by chanting “white power” and shaking their fists in the air as the crowd flooded out of the venue. The deadheads quickly surrounded the skinheads, outnumbering them several hundred times; and soon the deadheads started a chant on their own: “Love is real, not fade away,” clapping to the same beat as the skinheads and drowning them out completely. No one laid a hand on them, but soon the skinheads melted away, their evil vibe completely defeated.
Cheers,
Steve
So the kids they dance, they shake their bones!!! Great to hear this after all these years. This was one of my first shows. Sooooo remember this moment in time. In addition…out of all the drum circles… in my opinion, if you found yourself at a Cicle with Bam Bam, probably wasn’t going to get any better than that. After the skinheads figured out who was more punk rock I saw one of the tough leader skins @ the baddest circle…Looking completely humbled. The next year I saw him @ Cal Expo wearing a tye die with long hair…
Great story! When was this?